Why it works: Flour and butter are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 12% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 124,287 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓
Apple Cake
Ingredients
Directions
Make the pastry
Combine 1 lb flour, 1 lb butter, 2 oz sugar, 1 teaspoon baking powder, and 1 egg; rub butter and sugar into flour, beat egg, mix; do not add water.
Make the filling
Cook the apples before assembling.
Mix 1 cup butter, 3 cups flour, 2 teaspoons soda car sweetened, 1 teaspoon mixed spice, 1 cup sugar, stewed apples, and raisins; rub butter into flour, soda, and spice; add sugar, apple, and raisins.
Assemble and bake
Place the apple mixture between two layers of pastry.
Bake for one hour and a half.
Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)
Counts 3 of 4 ingredients. The other 1 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.
What these numbers assume: 3 portions
| Ingredient | Portion assumed | kcal |
|---|---|---|
| Flour | 1 cup (125g) all-purpose | 455 |
| Butter | 1 tbsp (14g) | 102 |
| Sugar | 1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated | 49 |
| Pastry | not in our table | 0 |
One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.
Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures. See the original page.
Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it
Explore the science
The flavor team
The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.
-
Flour + buttertop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
-
Flour + sugartop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together92,116 recipes
Shared aroma: phenylacetaldehyde (hawthorne, honey).
-
Sugar + buttertop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together98,233 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
Flour and butter barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 124,287 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Flour
- Provides the structure that holds the pastry and filling together.
- Butter
- Adds richness and tenderness by coating the flour particles.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness and helps the surface brown during baking.
- Egg (in the method)
- Binds the pastry dough and adds richness.
- Apples (in the method)
- Supply the moist, fruity body of the filling.
- Raisins (in the method)
- Add chewy pockets of sweetness to the filling.
The step that matters
Cook the apples before assembling. Cooking the apples first softens them and drives off excess moisture. Raw apples release water during baking, which can make the filling runny and leave the pastry soggy.
“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.
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